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CHAPTER VII.

THE INDIANS.

Indian Wars—General Wayne's Campaign—Battle of Fallen Timbers—Treaties—Grants of Land.

THERE is, of course, no written history of the races of men who were here previous to the red men, found here when the whites first came. There is a blank of untold ages in the history of this Continent, and for many years after the country had been visited by white men, all the information concerning the race then occupying the country rests upon traditions. These traditions reach back to about the year 1790, or nearly one hundred years ago. They throw a dim light, but are sufficiently definite to be interesting, and to give some idea of the manners and customs of the people.

NEUTRAL GROUND—THE TWO FORTS.

That this locality was considered valuable and important by the Indians seemsto be pretty well established. Hon. Lewis Cass, who was early familiar with all the Indian tribes of the Northwestern Territory, and had great facilities for obtaining information from and about them, as Indian agent of the United States, may be regarded as good authority. In a discourse before the Historical Society of Michigan, delivered September 18, 1829, he gives some interesting statements respecting a tribe called the Neutral Nation. The following is an extract from this interesting and valuable paper:

This Neutral Nation, so called by Father Sequard, was still in existence two centuries ago, when the French missionaries first reached the Upper Lakes. The details of their history and of their character and privileges are meagre and unsatisfactory, and this is to be the more regretted, as such a sanctuary among the barbarous is not only a singular institu-

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tion, but altogether at variance with that spirit of cruelty with which their wars were usually prosecuted. The Wyandot tradition represents them as having separated from the parent stock during the bloody wars between their own tribe and the Iroquois, and having fled to the Sandusky River for safety; that they here erected two forts within a short distance of each other, and assigned one to the Iroquois and the other to the Wyandots and their allies, where their war parties might find security and hospitality whenever they entered their country. Why so unusual a proposition was made and acceded to, tradition does not tell. It is probable, however, that superstition lent its aid to the institution, and that it may have been indebted for its origin to the feasts and dreams and juggling ceremonies, which constituted the religion of the aborigines. No other motive was sufficiently powerful to restrain the hand of violence and to counteract the threat of vengeance. An internal feud finally arose in this Neutral Nation, one party espousing the cause of the Iroquois and the other of their enemies; and like most civil wars, this was prosecuted with relentless fury. Our informant says that since his recollection the remains of a red cedar post were yet to be seen, where prisoners were tied previous to being burned.

The informant above alluded to by Governor Cass, we have reason to believe, was Major B. F. Stickney, of Toledo, long an Indian agent in this region. That there may have been such a tradition among the Indians we are unable to gainsay, but of its truth we have doubts.

Major Stickney, in a lecture (as yet unpublished,) delivered February 28, 1845, before the Young Men's Association, of Toledo, says :

The remains of extensive works of defence are now to be seen near Lower Sandusky. The Wyandots have given me this account of them : At a period of two centuries and a half or more since, all the Indians west of this point were at war with all the Indians east. Two walled towns were built near each other, and each was inhabited by those of Wyandot origin. They assumed a neutral character, and the Indians at war recognized that character. They might be called two neutral cities. All of the West might enter the western city, and all of the East the eastern. The inhabitants of one city might inform those of the other that war parties were there or had been there ; but who they were or whence they came, or anything more must not be mentioned. The war parties might remain there in security, taking their own time for departure. At the westerntown they suffered the warriors to burn their prisoners; but those at the eastern would not practice this cruelty. (An old Wyandot informed me that he recollected, when a boy, the remains of a cedar post or stake at which they used to burn prisoners.) The French historians tell us that these neutral cities were inhabited and their neutral character respected when they first came here. At length a quarrel arose between the two cities, and one destroyed the inhabitants of the other. This put an end to the neutrality?*

WHERE WERE THESE ANCIENT FORTS OR CITIES ?

There is good reason to believe that one of them was at Muncietown, and that if the ancient fort, the remains of which were found there, was the work of a preceding race, the Wyandots, or rather a portion of the Wyandots called the Neutral Nation, adopted and used it as a defensive position and city of refuge as above suggested by Governor Cass and Major Stickney. Where the western fort or city of refuge was located is a matter not now so easily determined. Close inquiry of the oldest inhabitants about Fremont at this time (1881) fails to obtain any tradition or account of any remains of any ancient fortification on the west bank of the river, nor can any such remains be discovered at the present time.

THE IROQUOIS OR SIX NATIONS.

This name is used to designate a body of Indians, consisting at first of five, then of six and afterwards of eight nations, who planted themselves in Western New York and on the shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie. These nations formed a confederacy prior to 1722, but the precise date of its formation is not recorded. The confederacy consisted, when first known, of the following Nations of red men — Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, to whom the Tuscaroras were added as a sixth Nation in 1722, and after that the organization was

* Howe's History of Ohio.

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called the Six Nations. In 1723 the Huron tribes were received; and as an eighth Nation the Algonquin Massassaguas, from Canada. This Confederation was remarkable in many respects. It was the most permanent and powerful of the savage governments found in North America.

Seeing the other tribes destroying themselves by internal discords, the Iroquois formed themselves into a confederacy, in which the principles of military glory and tribal union were carried to the highest Indian perfection. They pursued war and hunting but returned to their fixed villages. Each canton or tribe was independent, and each bound to the others of the confederacy by ties of general interest and honor. Matters of a general interest were decided in a general meeting of the sachems of all the nations, commonly held at Onondaga, New York. They followed the maxim used by the ancient Romans, of encouraging other nations to incorporate, and adopted captive people into their confederacy. In this way they became so strong that in the early part of the seventeenth century they had conquered all the neighboring tribes. Their sachems were chosen by the general voice, admitting their courage and wisdom; these chiefs, in a true Roman simplicity, accepting no salary, disregarding profit, and giving away their share of the plunder of war or the perquisites of peace, and thought themselves fully rewarded by the love and respect of the people. The Iroquois Nation possessed conservative power in the State, being represented in the public councils and exercising a veto influence in the declaration of war. This was certainly very remarkable in a government founded on military principles. Slavery was unknown among them. As in other republican confederations, where no single person has power to compel, the arts ofpersuasion were highly cultivated. The Iroquois were celebrated for their eloquence; in proof of this we need only mention the Cayuga, Logan; the Seneca, Red Jacket; the Oneida, Skenandoah; and the Onandaga, Garangula. The famous Brandt was a half-breed Mohawk. The tradition of Hiawatha (a person of very great wisdom), who advised the union of the Five Nations, is given in Schoolcraft's History of the Indian Tribes, Volume III.

The Iroquois took part with Great Britain during the war of the Revolution, and greatly annoyed the frontier settlements of New York and New Jersey. A powerful expedition was sent against them in 1779, under command of General Sullivan, and their country was ravaged, and eighteen of their villages burned. This movement effectually broke their power, though their incursions did not immediately cease. After the war treaties were made with them, by which extensive cessions of land were made to the United States. Other treaties followed until their title has been extinguished to all, or nearly all the land in the Northern, Eastern, Middle and Southern States. In the War of 1812 their few remaining warriors assisted the Americans against the British, and were organized for military service under the command of General Porter. Repeated cessions of land have reduced their territory from the dimensions of an empire to that of a plantation. At the time the French missionaries found the Wyandots on the Georgian Bay, and, as Schoolcraft says, when the Canadas were first settled, they were found on the Island of Montreal, and probably about the time the great confederacy was formed, numbered forty thousand. The number of the Senecas is not given, but they were called "a powerful tribe occupying western New York and a part of northwestern Pennsylvania." Of course, the other na-

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tions of the confederacy must have been quite numerous. In 1855 the total remaining population of all the tribes belonging to the confederacy was only six thousand souls, scattered in New York, Wisconsin, Arkansas and Missouri.*

The historian says, after describing this powerful confederacy:

In this way their strength became such that in the early part of the seventeenth century they had conquered all the neighboring tribes, and doubtless, in a hundred years, had the whites not colonized America, would have absorbed all the nations from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

It is interesting to notice that in the formation of the confederacy we find in this organization of the red men of North America, the model of the confederation of the subsequent colonies of white men to resist the oppressions of Great Britain. This great and powerful confederacy of the North American Indians is broken, and the people are few and scattered. The confederation of the white men served well so long as a common danger threatened the colonies, but our fathers saw its weakness, and met and formed "a more perfect union," by which we were made a Nation, one and indissoluble, under a written constitution, securing the right of the Nation, of the people and the States; and neither the wild waves of civil discord, nor the power of external force have been able to break it.

THE NAME.

The different names by which men belonging to this Indian confederacy have been designated in history, has given rise to much confusion and misunderstanding. It is therefore proper to state that the French called them Iroquois; the Dutch, Maquas; by other Indians, Mengive, and thence by the English, Mingoes or Mohawks, so that when we read the story about Logan, the Mingo chief, and his

* American Cyclopedia.

famous speech, the word Mingo does not signify his tribe or nation, but that he was of the confederacy. In fact, he was of the blood of the Mohawks, a nation who joined the confederacy.

EXTENT OF THE CONQUESTS OF THE SIX NATIONS.

Before 1680 the Six Nations had overrun the Western lands, and were dreaded from Lakes Erie and Michigan to the Ohio and west to the Mississippi. In 1673 Allouez and Dablon found the Miamis upon Lake Michigan fearing a visit from the Iroquois. It appears that in 1684, by treaty, and again in 1701 the Six Nations conveyed this vast domain to Great Britain, "in trust to be defended by his Majesty the King, to and for the use of the grantors and their heirs." The title to this vast domain, or so much of it as lay west of the Alleghanies, was disputed by the French, who claimed it by discovery made by their early voyagers and missionaries, who had traversed the great chain of lakes and descended the Mississippi many years before. This contest gave rise to the war between the two powers, in which hostilities were actually commenced early in 1752. After much bloodshed the British took by conquest this territory, and it was ceded by France to Great Britain in the treaty of Paris, in 1763.

It should be remembered that in treaties and conveyances of the Great West by the Indians to Great Britain they did not part with their title to the land. They themselves, and their lands, were placed under the care and protection of Britain ; the land was to be held "in trust for the Indians and their heirs." Hence the Indians were justified in contending for the possession of their inheritance. Let us now briefly consider how we obtained

OUR TITLE TO THE LANDS IN OHIO

At the close of the war of the Revolu-

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tion this whole region was in the possession of the Indians. It was no longer claimed or occupied exclusively by the Six Nations; they had sided with Great Britain in that war and their power was broken. Other tribes had, during the war, settled on the territory and occupied it in common with them.

These red men claimed title to the land. True it is, they had no parchment or paper title signed and sealed by man or any human authority, but they believed and felt that the Great Spirit, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and Lord paramount of all things, had in his goodness given these happy hunting grounds to his red children. No wonder then, that when he saw the "pale face" settling and building on his domain and killing the game which was given him to live upon, he was roused to resistance. He had no court to try his title but that court of last resort, the court of force, a trial by wager of battle. Their arguments were not made by attorneys. In this court of force the red men argued with the rifle, tomahawk, and scalping-knife, and with fire. His cruelty to his enemy knew no bounds; helpless infancy and non-resisting woman appealed in vain. The recital of his cruelties curdle the blood with horror. The burning of Colonel Crawford, near Upper Sandusky, and the massacre of his men, in 1782; the destruction of St. Clair's army, on a branch of the Wabash, in 1791; the butchery of Harmar's men in 1790, were attended with scenes and incidents of indescribable cruelty in almost every form in which cruelty could be inflicted. But there came at last an end to those terrible conflicts about title to the land. The final contest over the right to occupy the Northwest took place on the bank of the Maumee River, in 1794, in the battle of Fallen Timbers, and as it had a powerful influence to settle the title to the land in

Sandusky county, a notice of it seems proper in this work.

WAYNE'S VICTORY ON THE MAUMEE.

Before the defeat of Crawford at Upper Sandusky, in 1782, the United States had acquired, by treaty with certain separate tribes, a portion of the land north of the Ohio River. After this the Indians were induced by the notorious half-breed Mohawk, Brandt, and the white renegade, Simon Girty, to confederate together and insist that the Ohio River should be the boundary line between the lands of the two races. They cunningly insisted that the territory was the common property of all the tribes, and that no single tribe could give title to any portion of it. President Washington, by commissioners appointed at different times, strenuously endeavored to convince them of the wrong they were insisting upon; that the lands ceded to the United States were acquired in good faith, and some of it sold to actual settlers; and that the Government had no right to deprive these settlers of their land or remove the owners from it. He offered to make peace and to protect the Indians' occupancy of all their land not ceded to the Government. But the Indians had already destroyed two armies sent to punish them for their murders of frontier settlers, and they felt strong enough to resist any force that would follow them into the wilderness. To this feeling may be added that love of war, cruelty, and plunder so characteristic of the North American Indian.

While these efforts for peace were being made, President Washington, who so well understood the character of the natives, made preparation for the other alternative in case pacific overtures should fail. The concluding paragraph of the answer of the confederated Indians to the offers of peace and protection will show the reader how determined they were to have the Ohio

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River for the southern boundary of their lands. The extract is taken from "Annals of the West," by James H. Perkins, published at Cincinnati in the year 1847, and is as follows:

Brothers, we shall be persuaded that you mean to do us justice, if you agree that the Ohio shall remain the boundary line between us. If you will not consent thereto, our meeting will be altogether unnecessary. This is the great point which we hoped would have been explained before you left your homes, as our message last fall was principally directed to obtain that information.

Done in general council at the foot of the Maumee Rapids, the 13th day of August, 1793.

NATIONS :

WYANDOTS, MASSASSAGOES,

SEVEN NATIONS OF CAN CHIPPEWAS,

     ADA MUNCIES,

POTTAWATOMIES, MOHICANS,

SENECAS OF THE GLAIZE, CONNOYS,

SHAWNESE, DELAWARES,

MIAMIS, NANTA-KOKIES,

OTTAWAS, CREEKS.

ENGLISH INFLUENCE TO PREVENT PEACE.

It was suspected at the time that the British emissaries, or some indirect influence from that source, was employed to prevent the peace so much desired by the United States. The histories of the time inform us that Brandt said, in speaking about efforts for peace:

That for several years we were engaged in getting a confederacy formed, and the unanimity occasioned by these endeavors among our Western brethren enabled them to defeat two American armies. The war continued without our brothers, the English, giving any assistance, except a little ammunition, and they seeming to desire that a peace might be concluded, we tried to bring it about at a time that the United States desired it very much, so that they sent commissioners from among their first people to endeavor to make peace with the hostile Indians. We assembled for that purpose at the Miami River in the summer of 1793, intending to act as mediators in bringing about an honorable peace, and if that could not be obtained, we resolved to join our Western brethren in trying the fortunes of war. But to our surprise, when upon the point of entering upon a treaty with the commissioners, we found that it was .opposed by those acting under the British Government, and hopes of further assistance were given to our Western brethren, to encourage them to insist on the Ohio as the boundary between them and the United States.*

* Stone's Life of Brandt.

The talented and wily Brandt no doubt knew whereof he spoke, and his testimony puts a grave responsibility upon the British Government for those terrible Indian wars.

President Washington knew the Indian character and his mode of warfare. Early in life he, as a surveyor, had seen the red men in their homes, and knew their domestic habits and propensities from actual observation. He had seen the defeat of Braddock and the destruction of his army at Pittsburgh, then called Fort Duquesne; as commander-in-chief of the American forces in the Revolutionary War he had witnessed their cunning duplicity and cruelty as exhibited under the employment of the British Government in that war, and with his usual discernment and wisdom calculated all chances. Therefore, while he hoped for peace he was busy preparing for war. Accordingly, after St. Clair's defeat on the Wabash, the President allowed that general to withdraw from the service without a court-martial, and appointed Anthony Wayne, who had served so well in the war of the Revolution, to the command of the army to conquer the allied tribes of Indians in the Northwest. He instructed Wayne to organize an army at Pittsburgh, with special reference to the subjugation of the Indians. In June, 1792, Wayne moved westward to Pittsburgh, and proceeded to organize the army which was to be the ultimate argument of the Americans with . the Indian Confederation. Through the summer of 1792 the preparation of the soldiers was steadily attended to. "Train and discipline them for the service they are meant for," said Washington, "and do not spare powder and lead, so the men be made marksmen."

In December, 1792, the forces now recruited and trained, were gathered at a point twenty-two miles below Pittsburgh,

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on the Ohio, called Legionville. The army itself having been christened The Legion of the United States, was divided into four sub-legions and provided with legionary and sub-legionary officers. While these wise preparations were going on, the peace propositions above mentioned were offered and urged upon the savages, and resulted in their final reply above given — that nothing short of an agreement that the Ohio River should be the boundary of the land to be occupied on the south by the whites and on the north by the Indian tribes. Freeman, who left Fort Washington April 7th, Truman, who left on May 2d for Maumee, and Colonel Hardin, who on the same day started for Sandusky with proposals for peace, were all murdered. The particulars of their deaths will be found in the Western Annals.

The final reply to all these overtures for peace is contained in the last clause of the answer of the tribes, which is quoted above, and closed the attempts of the . United States to make peace. Some few further attempts were made to secure the Iroquois to the cause of America, but they ended in nothing; and from the month of August the preparations for a decision by arms of the pending questions between the white and the red men, went forward constantly.

Wayne's Legion moved from Legionville about the last of April, 1793. It was taken down the Ohio River to Cincinnati, where it encamped near Fort Washington, and there it continued until October, engaged merely in drilling and preparation. Legionville was situated on the Ohio River, about twenty-two miles below Pittsburgh; Fort Washington was at Cincinnati; Fort Jefferson was located about six miles south of the town of Greenville, in Darke county.

GENERAL WAYNE EXPLAINS THE SITUATION.

On the 5th of October, 1793, General Wayne wrote from Cincinnati that he could not hope to have, deducting the sick and those left in garrison, more than two thousand six hundred regular troops, three hundred and sixty mounted volunteers, and thirty-six guides and spies to go with him beyond Fort Jefferson. He further said, in the same communication to the Secretary of War:

This is not a pleasant picture, but something must be done immediately to save the frontier from impending savage fury. I will therefore advance tomorrow with the force I have, in order to gain a strong position in front of Fort Jefferson, so as to keep the enemy in check (by exciting a jealousy and apprehension for the safety of their own women and children) until some favorable opportunity may present to strike with effect. The present apparent tranquility on the frontiers and at the head of the line is a convincing proof to me that the enemy ate collected or collecting in force to oppose the legion, either on its march or in some unfavorable position for the cavalry to act in. Disappoint them in this favorite plan or manceuvre and they may probably be tempted to attack our lines. In this case I trust they will not have much reason to triumph from the encounter. They cannot continue long embodied for want of provisions, and at their breaking up they will most certainly make some desperate effort upon some quarter or other. Should the mounted volunteers advance in force we might yet compel those haughty savages to sue for peace before the next opening of the leaves. Be that as it may, I pray you not to permit present appearances to cause too much anxiety, either in the mind of the President or yourself, on account of the army.

Knowing the critical situation of our infant Nation, and feeling for the honor and reputation of Government (which I will support with my latest breath) you may rest assured that will not commit the legion unnecessarily; and unless more powerfully supported than at present have reason to expect, will content myself by taking a strong position advanced of Jefferson, and by exerting every power, endeavor to protect the frontiers, and to secure the posts and army during the winter, or until I am honored with your further orders.

This manly and patriotic letter, while it indicates the danger of the situation, expresses no fear, for Anthony Wayne never knew what fear was.

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On the 7th of October the legion left Cincinnati, and on the 13th of the same month, without any accidents, encamped on the strong position referred to in his letter, afterwards called Fort Greenville. The town of Greenville now covers the site of the fort. Here, on the 24th of October, 1793, he was joined by one thousand mounted Kentucky volunteers under General Scott, to whom he had written pressing requests to hasten forward with all the men he could muster. This request Scott had hastened to comply with, and upon the 28th of September, 1793, the Governor, in addition to these volunteer forces, had ordered a draft of militia. The Kentucky troops, however, were soon dismissed until spring, but their march had not been in vain, for they had seen enough of Wayne's army to give them confidence in it and in him, so that the full number of volunteers was easily procured in the spring.

One attack had been made upon the troops previous to the 23d of October, and only one. A body consisting of two commissioned officers and ninety non-commissioned officers and soldiers, convoying twenty wagons of supplies, was assaulted on the 17th of that month, seven miles beyond Fort St. Clair, which was built in 1791-92, about one mile west of Eaton, now the county seat of Preble county. In this attack by the savages Lieutenant Lowry and Ensign Boyd, with thirteen others, were killed. Although so little opposition had thus far been encountered, General Wayne determined to stay where he was during the winter, and having seventy thousand rations on hand in October, with the prospect of one hundred and twenty thousand more, while the Indians were sure to be short of provisions, he proceeded to fortify his position, which he named Fort Greenville, and which was situated on ground now occupied by the town of that name. This being done, on the 23d of December a detachment was sent forward to take possession of the field of St. Clair's defeat, in the now county of Darke. On Christmas day this detachment reached the ground on which St. Clair's army was slaughtered November 4, 1791, or a little more than two years before. "Six hundred skulls," says one present, "were gathered up and buried. When we went to lay down we had to scrape the bones together and carry them out to make our beds." Here Fort Recovery was built, properly garrisoned, and placed in charge of Captain Alexanander Gibson. Thus situated, during the early months of 1794 General Wayne was steadily engaged in preparing everything for a sure blow when the time to strike should come. By means of Captain Gibson and his various spies, he kept himself informed of the plans and movements of the savages. All this information showed that the Indians were relying on British assistance, and this reliance animated the doomed race of red men to resist offers of peace, and stealthily prepare to fight.

On the 5th of June, 1794, Captain Gibson captured two Indians of the Pottawatomie tribe, and had them examined, and their examination showed reports to them that the British were then at Roche de Boeuf, on the Maumee River, on their way to war against the Americans; that the number of British troops there was about four hundred, with two pieces of artillery, exclusive of the Detroit militia, and that they had made fortifications around McKee's house and store at that place, in which they had deposited all their stores of ammunition, arms, clothing, and provisions, with which they promised to supply the hostile Indians in abundance. They further reported that there were then collected there not less than two thousand warriors, and were the Pot-

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tawatomies to join, the whole would amount to upwards of three thousand hostile Indians; that the British troops and militia that will join the Indians to go to war would amount to fifteen hundred according to the promise of Governor Simcoe, of Canada. To the question, "At what time and at what place do the British and Indians mean to advance against this army?" these prisoners answered, "About the last of this moon or the beginning of next they intend to attack the legion at this place" (Fort Trumbull). Two Shawnee warriors captured on the 2d of June, substantially corroborated the statements of the Pottawatomies. The conduct of the savages proved these reports of the Indian prisoners not to be fables.

On the 30th of June Fort Recovery, the advanced American post, was assaulted by Little Turtle at the head of more than one thousand warriors, and, although repelled, the assailants rallied and returned to the charge and kept up the attack through the whole day and part of the day following. Nor was this assailing force composed entirely of natives. White men, and some in scarlet coats were there advising and directing the savages.

ST. CLAIR'S CANNON.

When St. Clair was defeated in 1791 (December 4), his guns were left on that field of slaughter. Some time afterwards General Wilkinson dispatched Captain Bunting from Fort Washington to the field of St. Clair's defeat The captain, in his report, says, among other things: "We found three whole carriages; the other five were so much damaged that they were rendered useless." This indicates clearly that St. Clair had left eight pieces of artillery on the ground. It was winter when Bunting examined the battlefield. He did not believe the Indians had taken off the cannon, and it was his opinion thatthey had been thrown into the creek, which was then frozen over and so thickly covered with snow that it was vain to look for them. The next recorded notice is found in General Wayne's dispatch after the assault on Fort Recovery. After asserting that there were British officers and privates engaged with the Indians in the assault, the dispatch continues:

It would also appear that the British and savages expected to find the artillery that was lost on the 4th of November, 1791, and hid by the Indians, in beds of old fallen timber or logs which they turned over and hid the cannon in, and then turned the logs back into their former places. It was in this artful manner that we generally found them deposited. The hostile Indians turned over a great number of logs during the assault, in search of these cannon and other plunder which they had probably hid in this manner after the action of the 4th of November, 1791. I therefore have reason to believe that the British and Indians depended much on this artillery to assist in the reduction of the post; fortunately they served in its defence.

WAYNE MOVES HIS LEGION FORWARD.

On the 26th of July, 1794, Scott, with about one thousand six hundred men from Kentucky, joined Wayne at Greenville, and on the 28th the legion moved for ward On the 8th of August the army was near the junction of the Auglaize and Maumee Rivers, at Grand Glaize, and proceeded at once to build Fort Defiance, where the rivers meet. At the place had been the Indian headquarters, and Wayne expected to surprise them there, but a deserter from his army had informed them of his approach, and they were gone. It had been Wayne's plan to reach the headquarters of the savages undiscovered, and in order to do this he had cut two roads, one towards the foot of the rapids (Roche de Boeuf), the other to the junction of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph Rivers, while he in fact pressed forward between the two, and this stratagem General Wayne believed would have succeeded but for the deserter above referred to, who was in his quartermaster's department, when he

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left and went to the Indian headquarters. While engaged upon Fort Defiance, the American commander received full and accurate accounts of the Indians and the aid they would receive from the volunteers of Detroit and elsewhere; he learned the nature of the ground and the circumstances favorable and unfavorable; and upon the whole, considering the spirit of his troops, officers and men, regulars and volunteers, he determined to march forward and settle matters at once. But still true to the spirit of compromise and peace so forcibly taught by Washington, on the 13th of August he sent Christopher Miller, who had been naturalized among the Shawnees, then taken prisoner by Wayne's spies, as a special messenger, offering terms of friendship. To aid the reader in forming a correct judgment upon Wayne's subsequent dealing with the savages and to vindicate the United States against any charge of deception or cruelty, it seems necessary to give in full the message sent by Miller on this occasion. It is found in Perkins' Annals of the West, on page 404, and is as follows:

TO THE DELAWARES, SHAWNEES, MIAMIS, AND WYANDOTS, AND TO EACH AND EVERY OF THEM, AND TO ALL OTHER NATIONS OF INDIANS NORTHWEST OF THE OHIO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

I, Anthony Wayne, Major General and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Army, now at Grand Glaize, and Commissioner Plenipotentiary of the United States of America, for settling the terms upon which a permanent and lasting peace shall be made with each and every of the hostile tribes or nations of Indians northwest of the Ohio, and of the United States, actuated by the purest principles of humanity, and urged by pity for the errors into which had and designing men have led you, from the head of my army now in possession of your abandoned villages and settlements, do hereby once more extend the friendly hand of peace towards you, and invite each and every of the hostile tribes of Indians to appoint deputies to meet me and my army, without delay, between this place and Roche de Boeuf, in order to settle the preliminaries of a lasting peace, which may eventually and soon restore to you—the Delawares, Miamis, Shawnees, and all other tribes and nations lately settled in this place and on the margin of the Miami and the Glaize Rivers-your late grounds and possessions, and to preserve you and your distressed and hapless women and children from danger and famine during the present fall and ensuing winter.

The army of the United States is strong and powerful, but they love mercy and kindness more than war and desolation. And to remove any doubts or apprehension of danger to the persons of the deputies whom you may appoint to meet this army, I hereby pledge my sacred honor for their safety and return, and send Christopher Miller, an adopted Shawnee warrior, whom I took prisoner two days ago, as a flag, who will advance in their front to meet me.

Mr. Miller was taken prisoner by a party of my warriors six moons since, and can testify to you the kindness which I have shown to your people, my prisoners; that is, five warriors and two women, who are now all safe at Greenville.

But should this invitation be disregarded, and my flag, Mr. Miller, be detained or injured, I will immediately order all those prisoners to be put to death without distinction, and some of them are known to belong to the first families of your nations.

Brothers, be no longer deceived or led astray by the false promises and language of the bad white men at the foot of the rapids ; they have neither the power nor inclination to protect you. No longer shut your eyes to your true interest and happiness, nor your ears to this overture of peace; but, in pity to your innocent women and children, come and prevent the further effusion of your blood ; let them experience the kindness and friendship of the United States of America, and the invaluable blessings of peace and tranquility. ANTHONY WAYNE.

Grand Glaize, August 13, 1794.

WAYNE'S QUALIFICATIONS TO FIGHT THE INDIANS.

Wayne had seen enough of the Indian character in the Revolutionary War in the Northern colonies and in Georgia, whither he had been sent to fight Indians almost exclusively, to be a judge of them. Perhaps no man had a better understanding of the war capacity and traits of the North American Indian than he. If the Indians were silent he read unerringly their intent; in their speech he detected with great accuracy what was true and what was intended to deceive. He had no superior as a character reader of the red men he was contending with. Neither

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their shams, feints or false pretenses ever mislead him. Braddock at Fort Duquesne, Crawford at Upper Sandusky, Harmar at the Maumee, and St. Clair at the Wabash, all failed for want of those high qualities which gave such great superiority and success to Wayne.

NARRATIVE OF WAYNE'S CAMPAIGN RESUMED.

Let it be remembered that General Wayne dispatched Miller with his peace proposition on the 13th of August, 1794, from Fort Defiance. No doubt intending that if either party must be surprised it should be the Indians and not himself, Wayne moved his troops forward on the 15th, and before he had received any report from Miller. On the 16th he met Miller returning with the message that if the Americans would wait ten days at Grand Glaize they, the Indians, would decide for peace or war. Wayne was not to be deceived into giving the Indians their choice of the time and place when and where to strike. He understood this proffered delay to mean that he should wait until the Indians were more completely prepared for the decisive conflict, and he replied to their wily answer to his message by marching straight on towards them.

On the 18th the legion had advanced forty-one miles from Grand Glaize, and being now at Roche de Boeuf and near the long looked for foe, began to throw up some light works called Fort Deposit, wherein to place the heavy baggage during the expected battle. During the 19th the army still labored on their works.

WAYNE'S REPORT OF THE BATTLE.

On the 20th, at 8 o'clock, all baggage having been left behind, the white forces moved down the north bank of the Maumee ; the legion on the right, its flank covered by the river ; one brigade ofmounted volunteers on the left, under Brigadier-General Todd, and the other in the rear under Brigadier-General Barbee. A select battalion of mounted volunteers moved in front of the legion, commanded by Major Price, who was directed to keel) sufficiently advanced so as to give timely notice for the troops to form in case of action, it being yet undetermined whether the Indians would decide for peace or war. After advancing about five miles Major Price's corps received so severe a fire from the enemy, who were secreted in the woods and grass, as to compel him to retreat. The legion was immediately formed into two lines, principally in a close, thick wood which extended for miles on our left and for a very considerable distance in front; the ground being covered with fallen timber, probably occasioned by a tornado, and which rendered it impracticable for the cavalry to act with effect and afforded the enemy the most favorable covert for their mode of warfare. The savages were formed in three lines within supporting distance of each other, and extending near two miles at right angles with the river.

I soon discovered (says General Wayne, in his report of the battle), from the weight of the fire and extent of their lines, that the enemy were in full force in front, and in possession of their favorite ground, and endeavoring to turn our left flank. I therefore gave orders for the second line to advance and support the first, and directed Major-General Scott to gain and turn the right flank of the savages with the whole of the mounted volunteers, by a circuitous route. At the same time I ordered the front line to advance and charge with trailed arms and rouse the Indians from their cover at the point of the bayonet, and when up to deliver a close and well-directed fire on their backs, followed by a brisk charge so as not to give them time to load again. I also ordered Captain Campbell, who commanded the Legionary cavalry, to turn the left flank of the enemy next the river, and which afforded a favorable field for that corps to act in. All these orders were obeyed with spirit and promptitude; but such was the impetuosity of the charge by the first line of infantry, that the Indians and Canada militia and volunteers were driven from all their coverts in so short a time, that although

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every possible exertion was used by the officers of the second line of the legion, and by Generals Scott, Todd, and Barbee, of the mounted volunteers, to gain their proper positions, but part of each could get up in season to participate in the action; the enemy being driven in the course of an hour more than two miles through the thick wood already mentioned, by less than one-half their number. From every account the enemy amounted to two thousand combatants. The troops actually engaged against them were short of nine hundred. This horde of savages, with their allies, abandoned themselves to flight and dispersed with terror and dismay, leaving our victorious army in full and quiet possession of the field of battle, which terminated under the influence of the guns of the British garrison. The bravery of every officer belonging to the army, from the generals down to the ensigns, merit my highest approbation. There were, however, some whose rank and situation placed their conduct in a very conspicuous point of view, and which I observed with pleasure and the most lively gratitude. Among these I must beg leave to mention Brigadier-General Wilkinson and Colonel Hamtramck, the commandants of the right and left wings of the legion, whose brave example inspired the troops. To these I must add Lieutenant Harrison, who, with Adjutant-General Major Mills, rendered the most essential service by communicating my orders in every direction, and by their conduct and bravery exciting the troops to press for victory.

The loss of the Americans in this action was thirty-three killed and one hundred wounded; that of the enemy was reported much greater, but the number is not given. It is said, however, the woods were strewn for a considerable distance with the dead bodies of the Indians and their white auxiliaries, the latter armed with British muskets and bayonets.

INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE.

Contrary to the articles of peace between Great Britain and the United States in 1783, the British erected and garrisoned Fort Miami, on the Maumee River, on the present site of South Toledo. This was done within the acknowledged boundaries and jurisdiction of the United States, and no solution of the motive for the act but a determination on the part of the British to aid the Indians in their wars to drive the whites south of the Ohio River. Wayne's troops had followed the retreating Indians under the guns of this fort, and expected to see them take refuge in it, but the gates were shut against them and the fort fired no gun. The day following the battle a spicy correspondence took place between Major Campbell, commander of the fort, and General Wayne, in which Major Campbell expressed his surprise that Wayne would deliberately insult his King and country by approaching so near the fort in a hostile attitude. Wayne replied, in substance, that he was no less surprised to find Campbell fortifying himself on American soil, and intimated that had the Indians taken refuge in the fort, or had a gun been fired from it, he could not have restrained his troops from an assault which would have carried it. In this sharp dispute both Wayne and Campbell seem to have been restrained from striking a blow which would have rekindled the war between Great Britain and the United States, and the question was referred to diplomacy between the two governments.

At the time Captain Campbell, under Wayne, was endeavoring to turn the left flank of the enemy, three Indians, hemmed in by the cavalry and infantry, plunged into the river and endeavored to swim to the opposite side. Two negroes of the army on the opposite bank concealed themselves behind a log to intercept them. When within shooting distance one of them shot the foremost Indian through the head. The other two took hold of him to drag him to the shore, when the second negro fired and killed another. The remaining Indian, being now in shoal water, endeavored to tow the two dead bodies to the bank. In the meantime the first negro had reloaded, and firing upon the survivor, mortally wounded him. On approaching them, the negroes judged from their striking resemblance and de-

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votion that they were brothers. After scalping them they let their bodies float down stream.

Another circumstance shows with what obstinacy the conflict was waged by individuals of both armies. A soldier who had become detached a short distance from the army, met a single Indian in the woods, when they attacked each other, the soldier with his bayonet, and the Indian with his tomahawk. Two days after they were found dead, the soldier with his bayonet in the body of the Indian—the Indian with his tomahawk in the head of the soldier.

Several months after the battle of the Fallen Timbers a number of Pottawatomie Indians arrived at Fort Wayne, where they expressed a desire to see "The Wind" as they called Wayne. On being asked for an explanation of the name, they replied that at the battle of the 20th of August he was exactly like a hurricane, which drives and tears everything before it.

General Wayne was a man of most ardent impulses, and in the heat of action apt to forget that he was a general and not a private soldier. When the attack on the Indians who were concealed behind the fallen timbers was commenced by ordering the regulars up, the late General Harrison, then being Lieutenant with the title of Major, addressing his superior, said :

General Wayne, I am afraid you will go into the fight yourself and forget to give me the necessary field orders. Perhaps I may, replied Wayne, and if I do, recollect that the standing order for the day is, Charge the d—d rascals with the bayonet.

As a further illustration of Wayne's impetuosity in battle, which Harrison seemed to understand, the writer will give an incident related to him by his father, who heard the circumstance from one who was in the battle. The narrative was briefly, that when General Wayne saw his regularsobey his order to charge with the bayonet and shoot afterwards, the General, seeing the promptness and effect with which his order was obeyed, became so excited that he was about to dash personally into the conflict and do duty as a common soldier; his attendants, seeing a strange fire in his countenance, and that he reined up his horse for a dash, two men seized his reins near the bridle bits, and held the bounding, foaming horse, while Wayne, grinding his teeth and driving his spurs into the horse's flanks, frothing at the mouth with rage, hissed from between his grinding teeth, "Let me go, d—n them; let me go! Give it to them, boys," etc., etc. This incident gave him the appellation of "Mad" Anthony, a name which ever after struck terror to the Indians, collectively and in. dividually.

After the battle, an Indian being asked if he did not think General Wayne a good general and great man, replied, "He no man, he Devil." No doubt the Indians, after the battle of the Fallen Timbers, entertained a superstitious dread of "Mad" Anthony, which exercised a powerful influence over them in making treaties of peace and grants of land afterwards.

We quote further from General Wayne's report of the battle. He says:

We remained three days and nights on the banks of the Maumee, in front of the field of battle, during which time all the houses and cornfields were consumed and destroyed for a considerable distance, both below and above Fort Miami, as well as within pistol shot of the garrison, who were compelled to remain tacit spectators to this general devastation and conflagration, among which were the houses, stores, and property of Colonel McKee, the British Indian agent, and principal stimulator of the war now (then) existing between the United States and the savages. The army returned to this place (Fort Defiance) on the 27th of August, by easy marches, laying waste the villages and cornfields for about fifty miles on each side of the Maumee. . . There remains (he says) yet a great number of villages and a great quantity of corn to be consumed or destroyed, upon Auglaize and Maumee, above this place, which will be effected in a few days.

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General Wayne, after strengthening his works at Fort Defiance, on the 14th of September established Fort Wayne, now in Indiana, of which, on the 2d of October, 1794, he placed in charge Colonel Hamtramck, who so distinguished himself in the battle of the Fallen Timbers. Meantime, the troops suffered greatly from sickness and want of provisions, such as flour, salt, and whiskey. Whiskey sold at eight dollars a gallon, and salt was held at six dollars a pint.

THE LEGION RETURNS TO GREENVILLE.

The legion began to march back to Greenville on the 28th of October, 1794, the volunteers, who had become dissatisfied and troublesome, having been started for that place on the 12th of that month for dismissal.

The Indians were terribly defeated and disorganized by the battle of Fallen Timbers. Their crops and provisions for the coming winter were destroyed, and starvation was before them—and they would have promptly made sincere overtures for a treaty of peace but for British influence, which was at once brought to bear against such a movement.

BRITISH EFFORTS TO PREVENT A TREATY.

Governor Simcoe, of Canada, Colonel McKee and Captain Brant, met at Fort Miami September 30 of that year, and at once began plotting to prevent a treaty of peace. They invited the hostile chiefs Blue Jacket, Backongelies, the Little Turtle, Captain Johnny, and other chiefs of the Delawares, Miamis, Shawnees, Tawas, and Pottawatomies, to meet at the mouth of Detroit River about the first of October, 1794, and together they set off for that place, about eighteen miles below Detroit.

It appears that about the 10th of October the Indians did meet the British at Big Rock, and were advised that theirgriefs would be laid before the King of England, and, in connection with this, as General Wayne learned from the friendly Wyandots, Governor Simcoe insisted that the Indians should not listen to any terms of peace from the Americans, but to propose a truce or suspension of hostilities until spring ; that a grand council would then be held of all the warriors and tribes of Indians for the purpose of compelling the Americans to cross the Ohio. He also advised every nation to sign a deed or conveyance of all their lands on the west side of the Ohio River to the King of Great Britain, in trust for the Indians, so as to give the British a pretext or color for assisting them in case the Americans refused to abandon all their posts and possessions on the west side of that river, and which the Indians should immediately warn them to do after they, the Indians, had assembled in force in the spring, and then call upon the British t0 guarantee the lands thus ceded in trust, and to make a general attack upon the frontiers at the same time; that the British would be prepared to attack the Americans also in every quarter, and would compel them to cross the Ohio and give up the lands to the Indians.

The wily Captain Brant also told the Indians to keep a good heart and be strong to do as their father (Simcoe) had advised them, and he would return home with his warriors and come again early in the spring with an additional number so as to have the whole summer before them to fight, kill, and pursue the Americans, who could not stand against such numbers as would be brought against them; that he had been always successful and would ensure them victory. But he would not attack the Americans at this time, as it would only put them upon their guard and bring them upon the Indians in this quarter during the winter; there

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fore he advised them to amuse the Americans with a prospect of peace until they could collect in force, and fall upon them early in the spring and when least expected. That, agreeably to this plan, the hostile tribes would frequently send flags with propositions of peace during the winter to put the Americans off their guard.

The British then made large presents to the Indians, and continued from that time to furnish them with provisions from Colonel McKee's new stores at the mouth of the Miami of Lake Erie (Maumee River), where all the Indians whose towns and property had been destroyed by Wayne's army were located in tents and huts, and where those who promised to sign away their lands and in all respects comply with the British proposition, were kept.

WAYNE COUNTERACTS THE BRITISH INFLUENCE.

Several causes operated to counteract the British influence and finally to prevent, the execution of their plans. First, the fort at Maumee had been built and garrisoned by the British while at peace with the United States, for the express purpose of aiding and protecting the Indians in their war against the Americans. The Indians, in good faith, believed that if they should be compelled to retreat before Wayne's army they would find shelter and protection in Fort Miami; but when they did retreat and were pursued under the guns of the fort, they found the gates shut and not a gun fired for their protection. A large part of the Indians who saw this treacherous act of Major Campbell, the British commander, lost faith in all British promises of protection and assistance, and would not sincerely listen to subsequent overtures. Thus the influence of the British over the Indians was broken by their own perfidy. If Major Campbellhad fired a gun at Wayne's forces the act would have been cause for another war between the United States and Great Britain; or if he had opened his fort to protect the enemies of the United States, the same result might have followed. The responsibility for such an act was too grave to be hastily incurred, and beside this, Wayne was at his gates with a victorious army, which if once assailed by the British was able to, and would have taken good care that, that fort and those within would not again make aggressive war on the United States. These powerful reasons compelled him to an act of treachery to the Indians which finally brought an end to the war.

Another cause was, that while the Indians were suffering under the sore distress which before the fight Wayne plead with them to avoid, by meeting and preparing for peace, he again made and kept before them the same kind offer of peace and protection.

Another, and perhaps the most potent of all considerations which operated to destroy British influence over the Indians at this time, was a superstitious fear of "Mad" Anthony. They had found his cunning superior to their own; they realized that he thoroughly understood their character and mode of warfare, that he could not be baffled or deceived by any of their devices; they witnessed his personal bravery and his awful fierceness and passion in battle; they were starving and dying under the consequences of his wrath, and their superstitious minds clothed him in many instances with supernatural powers.

The circumstances above mentioned so operated on the minds of the Indians that on the 28th and 29th days of December, 1794, proffers of peace were made by the chiefs of several tribes. Messages were sent to Colonel Hamtramck at Fort Wayne, from the Chippewas, Ottawas, Sacs, Ed Rivers, Kickapoos, Kaskaskias, Pottawato-

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mies, and Miamis. The result of these overtures was a meeting of the chiefs and sachems of the above named tribes, and three other tribes, namely: the Delawares, Wyandots, and Shawnees, with General Wayne at Greenville, on the 24th of January, 1795. At this meeting preliminary articles for a treaty of peace were entered into. The basis of the intended treaty was that hostilities should cease and prisoners be exchanged.

TREATY OF GREENVILLE.

About the 16th of June, 1795, the tribes began to gather at Greenville to make a complete treaty of peace. They had become convinced that they could not successfully resist the American arms, and General Wayne dictated the terms of the treaty, although there was much debate, and at times the Indians manifested much angry excitement while talking of their wrongs. But while General Wayne knew he had the tribes in his power, and could compel them to almost any terms, he was eminently just and humane in his demands. The conference lasted until the 3d day of August, when the treaty was engrossed and signed.

By this treaty the Indians ceded to the United States small parcels of land, evidently wisely selected by Wayne for military posts, covering most of the advantageous points for such purpose in various parts of the Northwestern Territory, and stretching with intervals from Lake Huron eastward to Lower Sandusky (now Fremont). "Two miles square at the lower rapids of the Sandusky River," is the language of the treaty as to this parcel of land. Excepting the Maumee and Western Reserve road land, this two miles square was the first land within the present limits of Sandusky county ceded by the Indians to the United States. The tract was afterwards surveyed by the United States and thelines of that survey are now the boundary lines of the city of Fremont.

In this treaty the United States engaged to protect the Indians against the aggressions of other nations, and also in the enjoyment of their other lands. The closing articles are as follows:

ARTICLE 6. The Indians or United States may remove and punish intruders on Indian lands.

ARTICLE 7. Indians may hunt within ceded lands.

ARTICLE 8. Trade shall be opened in substance as by the provisions of the treaty of Fort Harmar.

ARTICLE 9. All injuries shall be referred to law, not privately avenged, and all hostile plans known to either shall be revealed to the other party.

ARTICLE 10. All previous treaties are annulled.

TITLE TO OTHER LANDS; TREATY OF MAUMEE.

The title to the other lands in the Northwest, including Sandusky county, had first been claimed by France on the ground of discovery by the pioneer Jesuits sent by the church of that Nation. But in the war between England and France about the possessions, preceeding the Revolutionary War, England had obtained all the title France had. The United States, by the treaty of Paris in 1783, after the Revolution, had obtained the British title to all the vast Northwestern Territories. But the red men were in possession, And each country claimed subject to the Indian title, and each in succession undertook to protect the Indians in the enjoyment of these great hunting grounds. The United States held them, therefore, subject-to the . same incumbrance. Wayne's treaty of Greenville, August 3, 1795, recognized the rights of the Indians as the rightful owners of the soil. Therefore it was only by treaty or purchase that the United States could honorably obtain title to the vast domain. To effect this, many treaties and purchases have been made at different times and places. To mention all of these would be foreign to the object of this

88 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

work. But in giving a history of our land titles in Sandusky county, which shall be satisfactory to the conscience of the present enlightened occupants of the land, it seems proper here to state the following further facts in the chain of title. About seventeen years after the treaty of Greenville above mentioned, the war commonly called the War of 1812, between the United States and Great Britain, was declared.

In this struggle for "free trade and sailors' rights," as Henry Clay denominated it in his great speech, the British hired and enlisted all the Indian tribes of the Northwest they could induce to join them.. Under the lead of Tecumseh and the Prophet, his brother, a powerful force of Indians joined the British in that war, and made it, on the frontier settlements, most bloody and cruel. At the battle of Fort Stephenson, August 2, 1813, there were, according to history, five hundred British and eight hundred Indians. The Indians formed a large part of the forces encountered at Fort Meigs, at Tippecanoe, and at the battle of the Thames, in Canada, where Tecumseh fell and General Harrison obtained a decisive victory, October 5, 1813. These two victories, with Perry's victory on Lake Erie, September 10, 1813, virtually settled the War of 1812, which was closed by General Jackson's victory at New Orleans, January 8, 1815, although virtually settled before the last named battle. After the close of the War of 1812, which brought a cessation of Indian hostilities, the white settlers began to push for new homes in the West, and it was difficult to keep the peace between the white pioneers and the Indians, as the former often encroached upon the lands of the latter. The necessity for extinguishing the title of the Indians to Western lands became daily more urgent and apparent to the United States Government.

To accomplish this a commission was appointed on behalf of the United States, consisting of Lewis Cass and Duncan McArthur, who met the chiefs and sachems of the tribes occupying the Northwestern Territory, at Maumee, and, after due deliberation, a treaty was there signed on the 29th day of September, 1817. By the agreement there made the United States purchased from the Indians all Northwestern Ohio, except a few parcels reserved by some of the tribes. Among these reservations was one of the Seneca tribe, of forty thousand acres, located east of the Sandusky River, and on the south part of Sandusky and north part of Seneca counties, as since surveyed and named.

The Senecas sold this reservation and moved West about the year 1832. This reservation was soon after surveyed and sold by the United States, and is now a wealthy portion of the counties in which the lands were situated.

The other lands were surveyed and put in market about 1820, and all have since been sold to individuals, who directly or indirectly derive their titles from the United States, with the exception of two parcels.

THE WHITTAKER AND THE WILLIAMS RESERVATIONS.

These two reservations were located nearly three miles north of Fremont, the Whittaker on the west and the Williams on the east side of and both bounded by the Sandusky River. The persons who held these reserves in fee simple were not to sell the land unless consent of the President of the United States should be first obtained.

The Whittaker Reserve, originally containing twelve hundred and eighty acres, long since passed to purchasers, and is now owned by several persons in distinct and separate parcels.

The Williams Reserve, of one hundred

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and sixty acres, is still occupied by descendants of the original owner.

There is an interesting narrative connected with the last two reservations, which will be found in a sketch of the Whittaker family in another part of this history.

Thus we have traced the general title to the lands in Sandusky county from the aborigines to the United States, and from the United States the present owners have derived their title, excepting the Williams Reserve, and Maumee and Western Reserve Road, and the lands given for its construction, which latter will form the subject of another chapter.

SURVEYS.

The first surveying in this then wilderness was done by William Ewing, Deputy Surveyor, in 1807, who surveyed the reservation, or rather grant, by the Indians at Greenville to the United States. The two miles square was then by him divided into sections, as other lands were surveyed, but afterwards, in 1816, the reservation was divided into tracts, running from the river each way to the line of the two miles square. This method of sub-division did not, however, include the whole square. The northeast part was then surveyed into in-lots and out-lots for city purposes, and as such put on sale by the United States. This survey was called the town of Croghansville, (pronounced Crawnsville,) and now forms a part of the city of Fremont.

THE OTHER GOVERNMENT LANDS

in the county were all surveyed in 1820, as appears by the recorded surveys and plats, as follows :

The lands composing the townships of Ballville, Sandusky, Rice, Riley, and Green Creek by Sylvanus Bourne ; York and Townsend townships by P. F. Kellogg; Woodville by Charles Roberts;

Washington and Jackson by James Worthington, and Madison and Scott townships by J. Glasgow.

The reservation of the Seneca Indians —forty thousand acres—was surveyed into sections by C. W. Christmas, in 1832. All these surveyors were employed by the United States, and are official surveys. The lands, excepting villages and the two miles square at the lower rapids of the Sandusky River, were surveyed by ranges; townships of six miles square and sections of one mile square divided into quarters. Trees were used to designate the corners of these surveys, and the kind of timber, size of tree, and the distance and course of them from the corner, accurately measured and recorded with the plat. Perhaps no better plan for the convenient description of land has ever been devised. Each township contained thirty-six sections, and each section contained six hundred and forty acres, which can readily be sub-divided into any smaller quantities. Sections on lakes and rivers were sometimes not complete; such are denominated fractional sections.

SCHOOL LANDS.

Let the fact be ever remembered with gratitude, that the wise men of the Republic foresaw that our form of government rested on the intelligence of the people. The desire to advance the intelligence of the common people, and thereby better fit them for the maintenance of liberty by, perpetuation of a republican form of government, induced our statesmen of an early day to promote the education of the people. To this end, in surveying this part of the State they set apart every sixteenth section of land for the support of common schools. These school lands were entrusted to the State for the purpose of education. The State in an early day provided by law for the leasing of these lands

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at an interest of six per cent. on the appraisment values the leases running ninety-nine years, renewable forever, with a provision for a reappraiement every thirty-three years. The sub-division and leasing of these school lands (section sixteen in each surveyed township of thirty-six sections) was given by the State to the county commissioners of counties respectively in which the lands were situated. It is now a matter of interest, and will be still more interesting in the future, to place in this history a brief notice of the renting and final disposition of these school lands. 'Such a record will serve to show the increase in the value of lands in the county, and thus furnish evidence of the general. advancement in wealth since the early settlements.

EARLY LEASING OF SCHOOL LANDS, PRICES, ETC.

In the book containing a record of the leasing of school lands in the county, on the first page, appears the following entry:

SECRETARY OF STATE'S OFFICE,

COLUMBUS, OHIO, March 1, 1821. }

I certify that Jaques Hulburd, esq., was, on the 3d day of February last, duly appointed by a resolution of the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, Auditor of the county of Sandusky, to continue in office according to law.

JEREMIAH MCLANE,

Secretary of State.

Under this authority Auditor Hulburd proceeded in the performance of his duties.

On the next leaf of the same book appears the record of a lease of great length, made and concluded on the 14th day of April, 1821, between Jaques Hulburd, Auditor of Sandusky county, Ohio, and his successors in office, of the first part, and Joel Chaffin, of the same place, of the second part, etc.

This lease demised and let to the said Chaffin fifty-three acres of section sixteen in township No. 1, north of range fifteen east, for the term of ninety-nine years-renewable forever, and subject to be reappraised every thirty-three years there, after, and a stipulation to pay as rent six per cent. annually on the amount of such reappraisement. The said Chaffin agreed to pay as rent for the land yearly and every year to the treasurer of the county and his successors in office "the sum of four dollars." This land, if there is no mistake in the description, was located about twenty miles south of Fremont, and is now in Seneca county, which was organized April 1, 1824.

A tract of one hundred and sixty acres, being the southeast quarter of section sixteen in township four, range seventeen, now York township, was in like manner leased by Jaques Hulburd as Auditor, to Jacob Dagget, for the yearly rent of seven dollars and twenty cents for the whole tract. This lease bears date July 14, 1821, and the land is in one of the richest townships in Sandusky county, and is worth now—A. D. 1881—not less than one hundred dollars per acre, and each acre of the one hundred and sixty would rent for almost as much as the whole one hundred and sixty acres rented for then.

On the 21st day of July, 1821, a like lease was made by Auditor Hulburd to Morris A. Newnan, for a part of section sixteen, in Riley township, being a parcel of prairie land and a wood-lot of twenty acres, together containing one hundred and ten acres, for the annual rent of six dollars and eighteen and three-fourth cents for the whole tract.

AN OUT-LOT IN CROGHANSVILLE LEASED.

When the reservation of two miles square at the lower rapids of the Sandusky River was last surveyed by authority of the United States, as mentioned in a former chapter, the town of Croghansville was laid out and surveyed into in-lots and

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out-lots. Certain of these lots were set apart as school lands. Among them were a number of in-lots and out-lots. Out-lot No. 11, containing four acres, was one of them. On the 21st day of July, 1821, Auditor Hulburd leased this out-lot, eleven, to Josiah Rumery, by a lease similar to those above mentioned, for ninety-nine years, for the yearly rent of one dollar and ninety-two cents.

This lot eleven, by the renumbering of lots in Fremont, is now designated as lot No. 52 on the map of the city, and constitutes a part of the estate of the late James Park, and is known as the Park tannery property; and the lot, exclusive of improvements, is worth at least two thousand dollars, the simple interest on which sum would under the lease make one hundred and twenty dollars rental value of the lot at this time, against one dollar and ninety-two cents in 1821, and for thirty-three years thereafter.

We give the above facts about the leasing of the school lands in the county, to set before our readers the rental value of lands in 1821.

Although Congress had set apart and reserved these lands for the purpose of supporting common schools, the General Government conferred the trust of managing and disposing of them on the State.

LEGISLATION ABOUT SCHOOL LANDS AND THE SALES OF THEM.

After the law providing for leasing the school lands was passed, various other laws were enacted, and, amongst other things, it was provided that when the lands were appraised those not leased might be sold by the auditors of the respective counties at not less than the appraised value, and that the lessees had the option to either pay six per cent. on the valuation, or pay the appraised value in thirteen annual instalments with annual interest, and receive an absolute title from the State onfinal payment on or before the expiration of the thirteen years.

As the different townships came to be inhabited by people who appreciated the benefits of education, they desired the aid of the fund to be derived from these lands to support their respective schools. The law, be it remembered, provided that the fund arising from the sale of sections sixteen should be applicable only to the support of schools in that particular surveyed township of thirty-six sections, or the fractional township in which it chanced to be located.

SALES OF SCHOOL LAND - PRICES AND
DATES OF SALES.

We do not propose to give a full and detailed account of all the sales of school lands in the county, but sufficient specimens to enable the reader to judge fairly of the whole, may prove interesting and perhaps valuable information.

SALE OF BALLVILLE, SECTION SIXTEEN.

The first sale of section sixteen was made in 1831, and disposed in fee simple of part of section sixteen in surveyed township No. 4, range 15, in what is now Ballville township.

Lot fifty of that section, containing one hundred and seven acres, was sold to Isaac Prior, June 6, 1831, for one hundred and seven dollars.

Lot fifty-two, containing one hundred and one acres, to Joel Strawn, for one hundred and twenty-six dollars, September 4, 1833.

Lot fifty-one, containing one hundred and thirty acres, to R. Dickinson and Sardis Birchard, for one hundred and sixty-three dollars, October 3, 1833.

SANDUSKY.

Section sixteen, township five, range fifteen, Sandusky township, was sold in 1846 for five dollars per acre, excepting

92 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

one lot of eighty acres which sold for six dollars.

TOWNSEND.

The school land, section sixteen, township . four; range seventeen, Townsend township, was sold, chiefly in 1847, for five dollars per acre. One lot was sold to Nelson Taylor in January, 1849. The lot contained eighty acres, and was sold for three dollars and fifty cents per acre.

MADISON.

Section sixteen, township five, range thirteen, Madison township, was sold, chiefly in 1847, for prices ranging from five dollars and thirty-seven cents to eight dollars and twenty-five cents per acre.

SCOTT.

The section sixteen in township four, range thirteen, Scott township, was sold in 1854 for prices per lot ranging from five dollars and fifty cents to seven dollars and forty-five cents per acre.

RILEY.

The section sixteen in township five, range sixteen, was sold in May, 1862, at prices per lot ranging from three to twelve dollars per acre. The average price would be near ten dollars. This section had all been under the ninety-nine year leases from 1821, before it was sold to the lessees for the appraised value.

GREEN CREEK.

Section sixteen, township four, range sixteen was sold in 1850 at prices ranging from ten dollars and fifty cents to five dollars per acre—averaging about eight dollars for the section. .

YORK.

Section sixteen, township four, range seventeen, was sold in June, 1849, for an average of eight dollars per acre, and had been in part previously under the ninety-nine years lease.

WOODVILLE.

Section sixteen, township six, range thirteen, was sold in 1856 by lots, the prices ranging from five dollars to seven dollars and fifty cents per acre.

JACKSON.

Section sixteen in township four, range fourteen, Jackson township, was sold in September, 1837, for an average price of two dollars and sixty cents per acre.

THE SALE OF SCHOOL LOTS IN CROGHANSVILLE

took place in 1850, and produced a fund amounting to eleven hundred and twenty-six dollars and seventy-five cents.

HOW PROCEEDS OF SALES ARE DISPOSED OF.

The proceeds of all these sales are paid into the State Treasury and constitute an irreducible debt or fund on which the State pays six per cent. interest annually to the county; the interest is then credited to the county school fund, and by the county auditor the amount arising from each section sixteen sold is credited to the township school fund of each surveyed township, and then distributed to the sub-school districts according to the respective enumerations of the children entitled to the privileges of the common schools residing therein.

The total amount of the proceeds arising from the sale of school lands, now in the State Treasury to the credit of Sandusky county, is thirty-three thousand two hundred and fifteen dollars and fifty cents, producing annually one thousand nine hundred and ninety-two dollars and eighty-seven cents to be applied to the support of schools and distributed as above mentioned.

There is yet to be paid over to the State the further sum of three hundred and seventy-five dollars and twenty-two cents, being amounts due from purchasers

HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY - 93

who are delinquent in payment for their lands. When this delinquency shall be paid over to the State, as doubtless it soon will be, the total amount on which the county can draw interest will be thirty-three thousand five hundred and eighty-nine dollars and twenty-two cents. The annual interest then to be drawn from the State for the support of schools, as long as the State may exist, will be two thousand and fifteen dollars and thirty-eight cents. This fund, under the law, is applied to the payment of teachers only, and as the law stands cannot be applied to any other purpose. The cost of building schoolhouses and all expenses of public or common schools, excepting wages of teachers, are paid. out of money raised by taxation on the localities respectively. A further mention of this subject will fall properly under the chapter on schools, and may be mentioned there.

If these school lands had remained undisposed of until the present time, and were sold at present prices they would have brought not less than an average price of twenty dollars per acre, or an aggregate of seventy thousand four hundred dollars, yielding annually, at six per cent., the sum of four thousand two hundred and four dollars.

Whether the early selling of these lands was wise or unwise is a question useless to discuss at this time, but if anyone should feel inclined to charge imprudence on the pioneers and early settlers in the disposition of the land, there are some considerations in mitigation of any blame to be charged, if indeed there be not a complete justification.

The early settlers were poor; they desired to have their children educated, and needed the help which the interest on these sales afforded, in the support of schools. They were here making the roads, clearing away the forests, and undergoing many hardships not experienced by the present inhabitants. These early inhabitants might be compared to a young man in possession of a little sum of money, which, if invested at good interest, would make him an ample fortune in old age, but he has no other means, and is hungry; bread he must have even if it costs all he has, and though he give all and save himself, his money is well spent, even if his anticipation as to a future fortune must be all dissipated. These pioneers did well to begin as they did, to start the cause of education at an early day, though they sacrificed prospective pecuniary gain in doing so. Another fact should be considered, which is, that with the obligation on the part of the State to pay annual interest at six per cent., there is a time coming when, if summed up, the payments will overtake and far surpass any value the land can ever attain.